HOMA BREAKS INTO THE TOP 50
Week 8

Max Homa won the Genesis Invitational, played in his hometown, and breaks into the Top 50 for the first time, jumping from World No. 91 to 38.


Hayden Buckley won his first Korn Ferry Tour title at LECOM Suncoast Classic moving to a career best of World No.283 from 583.


Chikkarangappa’s solid final round 68 earned him a remarkable come-from-behind win at the Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2021 Presented by Gujarat Tourism earning 5 Ranking points taking him to World No.345 from 434.

22ND FEBRUARY 2021 | 08:21 AM

PGA Tour - The Genesis Invitational

Max Homa won the Genesis Invitational, played in his hometown, and breaks into the Top 50 for the first time, jumping from World No. 91 to 38.

Homa missed a 3-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for the win. On the first playoff hole, he appeared to have no chance when his tee shot settled inches from a tree. He somehow escaped to extend the playoff and won it on the next hole when hard-luck Tony Finau failed to save par from a bunker on the par-3 14th.

Homa moved up to No. 10 in the FedExCup standings as he collected 550 FedExCup points with the victory.

He grew up 30 miles away in Valencia. He grew up idolizing Tiger Woods, the tournament host who presented him the trophy. He nearly threw it away with a 3-foot putt. And he walked off with his second PGA TOUR victory.

“I've been watching this tournament my whole life,” Homa said, choking back emotions before he said, “Wow. I didn't think it would be like this. ... The city of Champions -- Dodgers, Lakers, me now. It’s a weird feeling."

Homa not only closed with a 5-under 66, he played the final 26 holes without a bogey.

This looked to be a storybook finish for Homa when Sam Burns, who had led from the opening round, ran into a string of bogeys on the back nine.

It came down to Homa and Finau, who saved par on the 18th for a 64, the low round of the weekend. Homa made a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th to tie for the lead, and he stuffed his approach on the 18th for what looked to be a sure birdie.

And then he missed.

“You're not supposed to miss a 3-footer in front of Tiger Woods,” Homa said. “I saw him yesterday and was too scared to talk to him. But he's forced to talk to me now.”

Worse yet was his tee shot on the 10th. Homa managed to hood a wedge and scoot it up the slope to the edge of the green, and with a front left pin -- typically the Saturday position, changed this year because of the wind -- it left him 12 feet away. He narrowly missed. Finau, in great position, chipped to 7 feet and with his shadow over the cup, hit it too weakly.

The victory allowed Homa to crack the top 50 in the world for the first time, making him eligible for the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession next week and get him back to the Masters.

Burns closed with a 69 and missed the playoff by one shot.

Homa and Finau finished at 12-under 272 on a Riviera course that was fast, firm and bouncy all week, and was never more difficult than Saturday in 35 mph that led to play being halted.


Hayden Buckley won his first Korn Ferry Tour title at LECOM Suncoast Classic moving to a career best of World No.283 from 583.

Hayden Buckley went from first alternate on Thursday morning to tournament champion in four days as the 24-year-old birdied the first playoff hole on Sunday afternoon to claim his first Korn Ferry Tour title at the LECOM Suncoast Classic. Buckley sunk a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-4 18th to edge out Dawson Armstrong and Taylor Montgomery at Lakewood National Golf Club.

“I didn’t want to play two holes; I’m tired and my legs hurt,” laughed Buckley after his playoff victory. “It’s hard to believe. To get up there and do what you know you have to do, knowing it will change your life, it’s hard to put into words. It’s just a lot of relief, knowing I can plan a schedule. I have a whole year no matter what and I can compete for a TOUR card.”

With two holes to go, it looked like Clemson alum Billy Kennerly would cruise to victory. Kennerly held a two-stroke lead standing on the 17th tee box, but double-bogeyed the 17th and bogeyed the 18th to miss the playoff entirely.

“With three or four holes left I felt out of it,” reflected Buckley. “Billy was playing so well all day, I think he had a three-shot lead with four to play. I think he bogeyed a few coming in and all of the sudden we were tied going into 18.”

Buckley was the last player in the field and learned he had gained entry into the field approximately 15 minutes before his tee time early on Thursday morning. He raced to the range to hit 10 balls and then made it to the tee in time for his 7:17 a.m. tee time.

“It is painful warming up in the dark but getting the call 15 minutes before and going out and shooting a bogey-free 68 is awesome,” said Buckley. “I really made one bogey through three rounds. That was some of the best golf I’ve seen from myself in really ever.”

With the win, Buckley leaps from 85th to 27th in the points standings. This is his rookie season on Tour after a year on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada in 2019. Prior to that, Buckley attended the University of Missouri where he began as a walk-on and left with the lowest scoring average in program history.


Professional Golf Tour of India - Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2021 presented by Gujarat Tourism

Chikkarangappa’s solid final round 68 earned him a remarkable come-from-behind win at Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2021 Presented by Gujarat Tourism earning 5 Ranking points taking him to World No.345 from 434.

Bengaluru’s Chikkarangappa took centre-stage on Friday as he shot a solid final round score of four-under-68 to earn a remarkable come-from-behind win at the Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2021 Presented by Gujarat Tourism being played at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens Golf Club in Ahmedabad.

The 27-year-old Chikka, a two-time winner on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and an Asian Tour regular, ended the week at the Rs. 30 lakh event with a winning total score of nine-under-279 to emerge triumphant by three shots and register his 13th win on the PGTI. It was his 14th career title.

Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa fired the last day’s best score of seven-under-65 to finish runner-up at six-under-282.

Om Prakash Chouhan, the leader for the first three days who was ahead by a comfortable five-shot margin at the start of the final round, carded a disastrous six-over-78 which saw him drop to tied third in the final placings at five-under-283.

Delhi’s Sachin Baisoya (68) and Kolkata’s SSP Chawrasia (71) also took a share of third place along with Chouhan. Chawrasia was the only player with four sub-par rounds this week.

Chikkarangappa (69-72-70-68), who began the day six shots off the lead in third place, had a profitable front-nine as he scored birdies on the first, fourth and seventh thanks to his accurate approach shots and consistent putting which included a 15-feet conversion on the first.

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